Hi Mel,
Good question. Copyright issues are tricky since many images floating around on the internet typically have no watermarking or indication of who took the photo.
If you find images that you wish to upload here, best to check if they are done by a professional photographer or company (ex. National Geographic). Chances are they will not be pleased if you re-use their images without their permission. Our own policy is that if a user uploads a copyrighted image and the original owner requests a removal, we will grant it with proof of course.
That said, you can be pretty sure that most images you will come across on the internet either have reproduceable rights, or are taken by people that really only want their photos to be spread around. If you do know the original photographer, it's always best to cite them. (ex. Upload the image and then write a comment below the image with the reference, that way you can give their site a clickable link)
If you wish to take photos from World's Cutest Animals and place them on your site, please do reference the user that submitted the photo and give a link back to their gallery! That way people can view more of that user's images and it will likely keep that user happy.
Chris
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